


Birthday

by DollyDaydream



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/M, One Shot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-08-03
Updated: 2014-08-03
Packaged: 2018-02-11 14:49:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 719
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2072340
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DollyDaydream/pseuds/DollyDaydream





	Birthday

 

3 people came to Hermione's 10th birthday party.

Of course, she had only invited 3 people in the first place: Anna, the only other hardworking member of her class at school; April, the popular girl who was always inexplicably kind to her, and Posy, her cousin. She wished they weren't there. She had been hoping for a nice dinner with her parents and grandparents as usual. Her mother had been hoping for a big do with the whole yeargroup. This was the compromise. Dinner, cake and party games. Nobody wanted to be there. It was painfully awkward.

 

8 envelopes arrived on Hermione's 11th birthday.

7 had birthday cards in them. One was heavy. It was stampless. Her name in emerald calligraphy. A ruby wax seal. There was no recognition of her 11th year at all. What was there instead was terrifying. Toby Granger was convinced it was spam. Ellen Granger considered calling the police. The day ended in fear and suspicion. The next started with the robed man on the doorstep, carrying a wand and a well-earned explanation.

 

Hermione never felt as lonely as the day of her 12th birthday.

Sure, a myriad of cards, books and chocolates arrived that morning. All her extended family sent her their jubilations. But what was that compared to the contemptuous stares of her classmates? Nothing. Only the affirmation that Hogwarts was not to be the glorious relief from muggle social tastes that she had desperately dreamed. She burnt her cards. She binned her chocolates. She even ripped her books. Not even the comfort of her literary, and only, friends could console her. She caved under the sinking, aching solitude. She gave up. Hid in the toilets and cried the day into dawn. No one noticed her absence. It would be another year before she need confront her friendlessness again.

 

Hermione didn't have any friendlessness to confront on her 13th birthday.

Or her 14th, her 15th, her 16th, her 17th. Every one started with a pool of presents and salutations, and ended with a celebratory picnic by the lake at dusk. Not once did Harry and Ron forget her birthday, not once did they neglect to make a fuss of her. And, in turn, she celebrated their special days with them. Far from drowning in disappointment and despair, these birthdays brought her to the top of the world.

 

Hermione's 18th birthday was forgotten.

Harry forgot. Ron forgot. Her parents didn't remember she existed. Even she herself forgot. Minor issues including breaking into the Ministry of Magic, hunting horcruxes and running from the most powerful wizard on Earth took precedence over cake and bunting in everyone's minds. Understandably.

 

Hermione's 21st birthday was special.

Two Grangers, nine Weasleys and one Potter threw a surprise party for her. The reparations were complete, the Ministry was restored, the dead were laid to rest. All was well. They celebrated so much more than her 21st year that night.

 

Hermione's 24th birthday was her first as a married woman.

Ron tried to make it special in recognition of that. She awoke that day at 6am to a loud clattering, an unholy mess of a kitchen, and a swearing, sheepish husband. She didn't care. That burnt, tasteless cake was the best thing she had ever eaten.

 

Hermione was pregnant on her 25th birthday.

She was limited to no alcohol and one slice of cake, but with an adoring husband, a rounded stomach and the breathless anticipation of their precious arrival in just a month's time, what more could she possibly ask for?

 

Hermione's 26th birthday was celebrated with a redhead and an infant.

As hard as Ron tried, Rose Weasley took centre stage, soaking all of her mother's attentions and desires for the day. For Hermione, though, it couldn't have gone any better.

 

3 people came to Hermione's 40th birthday party.

Of course, that was because she had only invited 3 people: Harry, the man she had shared so much with, Ginny, her closest female friend, and Ron, her husband. She had received well-wishes from many others through the post, including both her school-bound children. It wasn't a big do, just dinner, cake and firewhiskey, but she had never felt so accepted or loved in all her life. Never again, Ron promised, would Hermione's birthday be anything other than perfect.


End file.
